The invention resides in a micro heat exchanger for the transfer of high area-specific amounts of heat by a fluid, comprising inlet and outlet structures, each having distribution volumes with passages extending therebetween for conducting fluid from the inlet to the outlet structures through the passages.
In technical processes, often energy loss-dependent heat amounts are generated which must be reliably carried away by suitable coolants. In microelectronic systems, the waste heat is generally carried away by heat conducting solid bodies and/or flows of fluid coolant for example air, oil or water.
Larger specific heat loss amount occur for example in microelectronics, micro-engineering or other micro-technical systems. The constantly increasing miniaturization of electronic components which, at the same time, become increasingly powerful, such as data processors, substantially improves the capabilities of the electronic equipment but also increases the amount of waste heat which is generated and has to be carried away. Consequently, with the increase in the specific waste heat generated also the means for reliably carrying the waste heat away, that is the means for cooling the components must be improved or further developed.
Known cooling means for microelectronics comprise bodies which are directly connected to the electronic components to be cooled and which include cooling ribs via which the heat is transferred to a fluid flowing past the ribs, preferably air. The bodies have a good heat conductivity and often a relatively high heat capacity for carrying heat away and for compensating to a certain degree for local temperature variations.
Known cooling means in micro-processing comprise micro fluid heat exchangers such as micro-cross-flow or counter-flow heat exchangers with a plurality of fluid flow passages. The fluid flow passages are often also micro-structured which, as a result of the large heat transfer area on one hand and the short heat transfer distances, provide for high specific heat transfer rates. However, such systems have—based on the principle—relatively large temperature differences over the length of the fluid passages and therefore result in a non-uniform inhomogeneous heat removal which is even increased by blockages caused in individual passages by impurities. Often such micro-structured heat exchangers have a high flow resistance and consequently cause a high pressure loss in the coolant during its flow through the micro-channels which is highly dependent on the amount of blockages of the coolant channels.
If a specific heat amount to be removed together with the miniaturization and power-consumption exceeds a certain value, known concepts rapidly reach their physical limits.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a fluidic micro heat exchanger for the transfer of high area-specific amounts of heat which does not have the limitations and disadvantages of the systems referred to above and which has an especially low coolant flow resistance of the cooling medium. Preferably, the heat exchanger according to the invention should also have a specific heat removal capability which remains essentially constant over a certain heat transfer range and a temperature level which remains constant over the whole area.
The heat exchanger of the present is to be particularly suitable for cooling an electronic component.